At The Beginning
by xx.just.a.contradiction.xx
Summary: The day Lupin & Tonks meet for the first time...


At The Beginning…

**CRASH! **

Munching quietly on his toast, Remus Lupin was startled from his pre-coffee morning reverie. Dropping his toast (peanut butter side down of course: just his luck), he sprinted towards the source of the noise which turned out to be the front door alcove. Slipping and sliding on the dusty wooden floor, he came to rather ungraceful halt and sticking his head around the recess was met by a rather amusing sight.

Lying sprawled in the door way amongst an assortment of umbrellas, was a tall and willowy woman with short, fuchsia coloured hair, a few years younger than himself. Her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment and she was apologising profusely to Sirius who was laughing at her apparent lack of co-ordination, even though it was clear he'd been dragged from sleep to answer the door.

'Are you quite alright Miss?' Remus found himself asking as he extended a hand to help her up.

Startled to see that someone other than her cousin had witnessed her rather spectacular fall, she smiled timidly and accepted his hand, pulling herself to her feet.

'Oh, I'm fine: just a clumsy moment is all.' She replied sheepishly.

'Which you have quite a lot of…' Sirius added with a snort as she shot him a glare. 'Remus Lupin, this is Nymphadora Tonks: who prefers to go by Tonks.'

'So would you if your mother named you Nymphadora.' Tonks said scathingly as she reached out to shake hands with Lupin, who smiled warmly.

'I erm, think it's a lovely name.' he said uncertainly as she gave a rather unladylike snort.

'I like you – you've got a good sense of humour.' She said with a grin before turning on her cousin. 'Where's the kitchen? I've been on duty for thirty-six hours solid and I'm _starving_!'

Rolling his eyes, Sirius led the way to the kitchen. Bounding into the tiled area, she began ransacking the pantry, pausing every now and then to chuck a product she liked onto the bench beside her. Laughing, Remus leant against the doorway watching, beginning to appreciate the fact that she was rather attractive, but in a way that he'd never really noticed in any other woman before. With her ripped jeans, black tank top and vivid hair, she was wild and loud but with an air of suppressed insecurity and mystery.

Noticing his friend take such interest in his cousin, Sirius gained a mischievous gleam in his large brown eyes. Walking over to Remus, he leant ever so casually against the wall.

'Willing to join us for breakfast Moony?' he asked with a grin as Remus blanched slightly at being caught out.

'Oh, well I'd already had breakfast.' Remus replied with a raised eyebrow at the look on his friend's face.

'She doesn't know that.' Sirius said with a wink. 'Only, I think you should go change first.'

Following Sirius's gaze, Remus groaned in horror as he realised that he was still in the boxers, t-shirt and socks he'd worn in bed last night. With a strangled yelp, he ran up the staircase, jumping them two at a time and slamming his bedroom door shut with a bang as Sirius laughed loudly.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid. _Remus thought savagely as he swapped his bedroom attire for a more suitable outfit of jeans and a sweater. Pausing to fix his hair in the mirror, he shut his eyes and took three deep breaths.

'Ok Moony, just breathe… In, out…' he said to himself, as his mirror snorted in amusement.

'Who's the lucky girl, dearie?' it asked in a wheezy voice as Lupin rolled his eyes – even his mirror was mocking him this morning.

Back downstairs, Tonks was sitting at the kitchen table with her cousin happily munching away on a peanut butter sandwich. Swallowing her large mouthful she took a slurp of milk and leant back in her chair to survey her cousin who was staring into the bottom of his cup of coffee.

'So, this Remus guy – is he the werewolf you and James used to be pals with?' she asked casually as she leant further back in the chair which was wobbling dangerously on two legs.

'Yeah, that's Moony.' Sirius replied, taking a sip from the mug.

'He seems really nice, but quieter than all the stories you've told me.' She commented, taking another gulp of milk from the glass.

'Mmm… Life has taken a toll on him: as it has on us all, I suppose.' said Sirius.

'He's nice though…' she repeated as Sirius looked up at her with a grin.

'Yeah, he is… Single too…' he added with a smirk at the look on her face, draining his mug and then refilling it.

'Really?' she asked interestedly, trying as hard as she could not to sound interested.

'Yes, indeed. Poor Remus, all misunderstood just because he's a werewolf…' he trailed off with a sad nod as his hair flipped into his eyes, hiding the evil gleam in them.

'Really? That's so sad… He's such a nice guy, not bad looking either.' She remarked, as Sirius let out a suppressed snort.

'I should tell him you said that.' He said with a grin as she blanched.

'No! Sirius, you can't!' she pleaded, her green eyes sparkling with fear as he began to bark with laughter, spraying coffee all over the table. 'Please Sirius!'

Finishing up with his laughter, Sirius surveyed her from underneath his fringe of dark hair.

'I suppose I could keep my mouth shut…' he said with a smile, reaching out to take her sandwich.

'Hey! That's mine!' she yelled in protest, leaning too far forward too quickly as her chair skidded on the tiles and fell over, sending her flipping backwards off it to land in a heap on the floor.

This was too much for Sirius, who, having just taken a bite from the stolen sandwich sprayed the kitchen with flecks of peanut butter and bread as he began to laugh hysterically.

'It's not _that_ funny!' she whined, attempting to disentangle her gangly limbs from the chair just as Lupin walked back in.

_Damn! Why am I always on the floor whenever he sees me! _She thought to herself as her cheeks flushed scarlet and Sirius began to laugh even harder at the appearance of their topic of conversation.

'Are you okay?' Remus asked, trying to suppress a smile.

'Yeah… Gee, you must think me a right clumsy git.' She replied as she managed to detangle herself from the chair and sit back down on it carefully.

'No, not at all.' he said in all honesty, reaching out for Sirius's mug of coffee and taking a large sip.

'Hey!' Sirius protested loudly. 'That's _my_ coffee!'

'And that was _my_ sandwich you just sprayed over the entire kitchen!' Tonks retorted.

'Ah, so that's what those flecks of mush are..?' Remus mused, inching away from a particularly grubby spot on the table with a look of disgust.

'Yes, well, if dear Tonks here hadn't fallen off her chair, I wouldn't have been laughing, would I?' Sirius said with a snort.

'If _you_ hadn't been stealing my sandwich I wouldn't have fallen off!' she said defiantly.

'Okay, time out!' Remus yelled, silencing the pair of them. 'You sound like little kids!'

'Well, Remus… She _is_ only twenty-four.' Sirius informed him with a wink as Tonks scowled.

'At least I'm not old like you, Mr. I-Turn-Thirty-Four-This-Year!' she retorted loudly.

_Twenty-four! Jesus, Remus that's a ten year age gap you fool…_ Remus thought to himself. _Did you really think you had a chance with her anyway? You're old and you're a werewolf… She's young and attractive… Yeah, I didn't think so…_

'Oh, well _that_ was mature!' Sirius said with a roll of his eyes.

'Who wants a coffee?' Remus interrupted, stopping Tonks mid-sentence.

'Well, you – oh, erm, that would be nice, thank you.' She said with an embarrassed smile.

'Sirius?'

'Oh no, I'm fine thanks.' Sirius replied graciously.

'Yeah, caffeine gives you premature wrinkles – he doesn't need it.' Tonks said with a smirk.

'Hey Moony, Tonks thinks you're "not bad looking"…' Sirius said with an evil grin that widened at the look of horror on her face.

Starting with surprise, Remus dropped the coffee cup he was holding.

'Ah, and from your reaction I take it you think she's "not bad looking" as well, ay?' Sirius remarked with a snigger.

'What! Oh no, just a clumsy moment.' Remus replied embarrassedly, his pale cheeks lighting up in a scarlet blush.

'See? You both even use the same excuses!' Sirius exclaimed through a snort of laughter.

'Sirius, you are the biggest snot brain I've ever had the misfortune to meet.' Tonks said exasperatedly, making her cousin laugh even harder.

'Snot brain! Merlin, that's a good one.' He snickered sarcastically as Remus rolled his eyes.

'Padfoot, you're a complete idiot – get over yourself.' Remus said nastily, waving his wand and cleaning up the shattered porcelain on the floor.

'Sheesh, remind me to never get on the bad side of you pair again!' Sirius said with his hands up in a gesture of surrender. Getting up from the table, he cleaned his mess up and walked out of the kitchen, but not before winking cheekily at them.

'Idiot.' Remus muttered, handing Tonks her coffee and siting down opposite her at the table.

'Agreed.' She replied with a nod, taking a large sip of her coffee, 'Mmmm… That's good!'

Smiling modestly, Remus took a sip from his own mug.

After ten minutes of rather awkward silence, in which they had both drained their cups, Tonks cleared her throat nervously.

'So… Sirius has told me all about the Marauders.' She said with a mischievous smile.

'Oh?' Remus replied with an arched eyebrow.

'Yes indeed, _Moony_.' She laughed, causing him to blanch slightly. 'Sorry, did I insult you or something?' she asked hurriedly.

'Wh-? Oh no, not at all; I just thought you – never mind.' He stammered, his face paler than usual.

'Oh, you thought I meant about you being a werewolf!' Tonks said with dawning realisation before she could stop herself. Clapping a hand over her mouth, she squeaked. 'Oh, I'm so sorry!'

_Tonks, you are a freaking IDIOT! How could you say that! Argh, stupid girl!_

'Sirius told you!' Remus yelled incredulously, jumping up from the table in fury.

_I am going to kill you, Sirius Black!_

'No! No, I already knew! I'm part of the Order!' she replied hurriedly.

'Oh. Right.' He said in a monotone, before making to exit the kitchen.

'Where are you going?' she asked confusedly.

'Out – I didn't think you'd want to be alone with a _werewolf_.' Remus said scathingly.

'What! No, it's not like that at all!' she exclaimed, with a wince. 'I know you aren't dangerous!'

Remus just looked at her with a cynical stare.

_She really doesn't mean it; she's terrified of me… Look at her face… But there's something else there, that I can't quite read… Something that I don't recognise…_

'I really mean it!' she assured him, getting up from the table so fast that she knocked her chair over.

Remus continued to look at her, his eyes shining dully with a mingled look of fear and hurt.

'I'm really sorry.' She said quietly, her emerald eyes locking with his pale grey ones.

_Tonks you idiot, you've ruined any chance you have with him now._

'Don't be, please.' He said at last, averting his gaze with a sigh and slumping back down onto his chair.

Scuffing her foot miserably on the tiles, Tonks drooped her head sadly.

'I really didn't mean to upset you, I just have this really bad habit of saying things I shouldn't.' she said in a voice so low he could barely hear her.

'It's quite alright, please don't beat yourself up about it – I shouldn't be so sensitive.' He said, walking over to her and tilting her chin so that she looked up at him.

As her emerald eyes locked with his grey ones, she felt something jump in her stomach, which made her blanch visibly.

'Are you alright?' he asked in concern, her fingers still on her chin.

'I've never been better.' She answered with a small smile, before standing up on her tip-toes and kissing him lightly on the lips.

Startled, Lupin jumped backwards in surprise.

'Maybe this isn't such a good idea, I mean, you're so young and -' he began before she jumped on him again, silencing him with a deep and powerful kiss.

The kiss progressed from deep to a hungry, frenzied flurry of passion, and as Lupin became more and more hungry for her taste, he pulled her backwards with him, heading towards the kitchen wall. He was so drunk with the feelings that had engulfed him so quickly, that he didn't notice Tonks' chair that was still on the ground where she'd knocked it over. As he took another shuffling step backwards, he got his right leg entangled with the chair and he was sent tumbling to the ground, accidentally pulling Tonks with him.

They hit the tiles with an almighty crash, sending the chair sliding across the tiles and the two of them sprawling in a heap of limbs and heaving chests.

Skidding into the kitchen at the sound of the noise, Sirius came to a halt by grabbing the doorframe. Taking in the scene in front of him, he gave a loud snort before dissolving into girly hysterics. Their faces flushing a brilliant scarlet, Tonks and Remus began to try and disentangle themselves from each other.

'Y'know, it's funny.' Sirius said after recovering from his laughter, 'you're right back where you started from, Tonks _dear_.'

* * *

**Hey guys!  
This is my first Remus/Tonks fic, so tell me what you think!  
Um, this is dedicated to all the reviewers of my other fics, especially those who review "In Love And War" regularly - you guys are the reason i write! (much love!)**

**Love & hugs,  
Ash xx**


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